I got an interesting email the other day from Nathan Hurde of pawbyte about Fields of Fresh a new/fresh/farming take on the RPG genre.
Yes another Kickstarter campaign folks but this one only wants $1,000 and they are already over half way!
Where have all of the good farming games gone?
To my memory, I have only played one good farming game series, it involved harvesting, sprites, and a moon. Every time I browse the web for a farming game, the results are games that are not up to par with my expectations as a gamer . Do farmers not deserve honor? After all, they provide most of the food we eat. In March 2011, I decided to make a Farming Game. This farming game will satisfy me as a gamer. The mission was to not make a lame social farming game, but a full-fledged farming RPG where the farmers have stories and lives.
The game has according to their press info been in development for over two years and is aimed to be released in June 2013 with beta versions coming soon.
What do you think folks?
0 Likes
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
5 comments
QuoteDo farmers not deserve honor? After all, they provide most of the food we eat.
You heard the man, kneel before me knaves! :p
Still, I have to roll my eyes at most of this.
EDIT: Then again...
QuoteThere are many obstacles and enemies that they must face. Those enemies include thieves, other farming organizations, politics, and even wild animals like wolves. We would like to show others what many people have to deal with in the agricultural world; things which may not be seen to all of the city-slickers, despite the rise in popularity of Farmer's Markets in metropolitan areas. We will like to show people what many people have to deal with in the agricultural world, which may not be seen to all of the city-slickers.
I am still laughing though. ;)
0 Likes
Woah thank you for covering our little ole' game.
@Hamish, what would you suggest?
@Hamish, what would you suggest?
0 Likes
Do not take me too personally, for I am a cynical bastard, but I can suggest a few points.
Mostly I find your premise amusing, putting these dark little lives on these characters. I mean, I had no idea that I had to be afraid of "meth-heads" and having our place burned down by bandits. In fact, the only real crime we have had committed against us was when some drunk careened off the road and smashed into one of our fences. Then, adding insult to injury, the bastard CUT the wires so that he could get his vehicle out, leaving a gaping hole, and then careened off again. So the next morning our neighbour to the south woke up, hung over from being at a wedding the day before, to see our big Black Angus bull starring back at him from his front door. Thankfully, he took it fairly genially. If you want to add that as an event in your game, you are more than welcome. But the only really druggies we have around here are pot heads running grow-ops. ;)
To me it seems like you are trying to artificially add some drama to a situation - but there is already enough drama in being a family farmer. Have you ever spent an entire weekend trying to save the life of a newborn calf only for it to die on you because it was a dud? Or to actually be able to keep one going? Have you ever encountered a hen being caught by a hawk, still alive, and wondered whether or not you should put it out of it's misery or not? Or just in general deal with a collapsing flock? Have you ever seen the loss of an entire generation of calves due to blackleg? Have you ever had to shoot a cow because it had neurological diseases, like my mother has? And while I am not much of a crop farmer, have you ever thought of the fear of an early frost, or the spread of fungal infections (wheat out our way has been plagued by it this year), or an explosion of locusts? Or getting too much rain or not enough? You do mention predation, and that is a good start, but there is so much more material you could work into this.
But of course the primary fear is always going to be economic. Just take this year for example - because of the United States drought people down south are selling off their herds, lowering cattle prices. Then, to make matters worse, we just had an e-coli scare which has lowered consumer demand, shaken confidence in the beef industry, and has taken one of the largest meat packing plant's out of commission. We do not even know whether or not we are going to be selling our calves this year, as we are quite concerned that we will not get a decent price four our honestly quite excellent calves. Now, we do not depend on the income this brings, but imagine if we did? This can apply to anything sold on an open market. We do however have hay expenses which this eats out of, and that is a problem. The real drama in being a family farmer is that you can net really live off being a family farmer.
Another thing which would be good to add to your game, if you really are intent on telling our stories, is just how capable someone has to be to do this. You have to be a builder, a carpenter, a nurse, an electrician, a plumber, an accountant, and yes, even sometimes a psychologist, as these animals are not as dumb as you may think. In fact, if you want the player to interact with eccentric and interesting characters, all you really have to do is give the animal's themselves their own personalities. Just telling stories about the funny, irritating, or plain bizarre behaviours of our bull Pedro alone could fill up an entire post.
And these are just a few thoughts. I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I do find it amusing and yes, even a bit patronizing, when I see someone go into this and not truly seem to understand all the realities of it. Now, I am not sure of your background, so maybe you know more than you are letting on, but on first brush this seems to be really fanciful, more based on a certain romantic notion than any real sense of understanding. I hope I have given something for you to think about.
However, you are an Indie developer, and it is your game. So have fun and make the game you always wanted to make. Only take my suggestions on board if you really want to. But most importantly have fun and make the game you always wanted to make. Do not let us cynical bastards get you down. ;)
Mostly I find your premise amusing, putting these dark little lives on these characters. I mean, I had no idea that I had to be afraid of "meth-heads" and having our place burned down by bandits. In fact, the only real crime we have had committed against us was when some drunk careened off the road and smashed into one of our fences. Then, adding insult to injury, the bastard CUT the wires so that he could get his vehicle out, leaving a gaping hole, and then careened off again. So the next morning our neighbour to the south woke up, hung over from being at a wedding the day before, to see our big Black Angus bull starring back at him from his front door. Thankfully, he took it fairly genially. If you want to add that as an event in your game, you are more than welcome. But the only really druggies we have around here are pot heads running grow-ops. ;)
To me it seems like you are trying to artificially add some drama to a situation - but there is already enough drama in being a family farmer. Have you ever spent an entire weekend trying to save the life of a newborn calf only for it to die on you because it was a dud? Or to actually be able to keep one going? Have you ever encountered a hen being caught by a hawk, still alive, and wondered whether or not you should put it out of it's misery or not? Or just in general deal with a collapsing flock? Have you ever seen the loss of an entire generation of calves due to blackleg? Have you ever had to shoot a cow because it had neurological diseases, like my mother has? And while I am not much of a crop farmer, have you ever thought of the fear of an early frost, or the spread of fungal infections (wheat out our way has been plagued by it this year), or an explosion of locusts? Or getting too much rain or not enough? You do mention predation, and that is a good start, but there is so much more material you could work into this.
But of course the primary fear is always going to be economic. Just take this year for example - because of the United States drought people down south are selling off their herds, lowering cattle prices. Then, to make matters worse, we just had an e-coli scare which has lowered consumer demand, shaken confidence in the beef industry, and has taken one of the largest meat packing plant's out of commission. We do not even know whether or not we are going to be selling our calves this year, as we are quite concerned that we will not get a decent price four our honestly quite excellent calves. Now, we do not depend on the income this brings, but imagine if we did? This can apply to anything sold on an open market. We do however have hay expenses which this eats out of, and that is a problem. The real drama in being a family farmer is that you can net really live off being a family farmer.
Another thing which would be good to add to your game, if you really are intent on telling our stories, is just how capable someone has to be to do this. You have to be a builder, a carpenter, a nurse, an electrician, a plumber, an accountant, and yes, even sometimes a psychologist, as these animals are not as dumb as you may think. In fact, if you want the player to interact with eccentric and interesting characters, all you really have to do is give the animal's themselves their own personalities. Just telling stories about the funny, irritating, or plain bizarre behaviours of our bull Pedro alone could fill up an entire post.
And these are just a few thoughts. I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I do find it amusing and yes, even a bit patronizing, when I see someone go into this and not truly seem to understand all the realities of it. Now, I am not sure of your background, so maybe you know more than you are letting on, but on first brush this seems to be really fanciful, more based on a certain romantic notion than any real sense of understanding. I hope I have given something for you to think about.
However, you are an Indie developer, and it is your game. So have fun and make the game you always wanted to make. Only take my suggestions on board if you really want to. But most importantly have fun and make the game you always wanted to make. Do not let us cynical bastards get you down. ;)
0 Likes
Thank you for much of the feedback. I plan on updating the campaign later today and fixing some more things.
0 Likes
The final 4 days are upon us. Also Update 10 was released.
Thanks to everyone for their kindness and support.
Thanks to everyone for their kindness and support.
0 Likes
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me